- Apr 3, 2003
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- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
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Ampeg PF500/PF350 Pt II.5
- Thread starter Chef
- Start date
- Status
- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,515
- 19,945
- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
I can get the 7Pro to do both of those tones (it does a better "LMII tone" than my LMII, IMHO), and if I played around with the PF500 a bit more, I bet I could get it close (though I'm thinking it won't have quite as much meat/heft as the LMII or 7Pro).
My second PF115 came in just in time for the gig tonight! Wish I could've gotten a better picture, but the lighting was pretty low. I tried out the full stack before the house opened, but disconnected the second cab for the actual show. One cab was just right, I had the gain @ 1:00 but volume only at 10:00 and even then, the sound guy asked if I could dial some low end out of my EQ because I was overpowering the house (250 seat auditorium) a little at rehearsal yesterday.
More volume and one cab could've easily been overkill... both together would've been stupid loud for this gig (pit orchestra for a musical), but c'mon... I HAD to at least give the stack a try, right? Disconnected the 2nd cab and it made the perfect amp stand! lol
5sg.
More volume and one cab could've easily been overkill... both together would've been stupid loud for this gig (pit orchestra for a musical), but c'mon... I HAD to at least give the stack a try, right? Disconnected the 2nd cab and it made the perfect amp stand! lol
5sg.
As a former LMII owner, I think you will be pleasantly surprised at what the PF500 will do in the heft department. But the 7 Pro does rule the roost when it comes to heft.
JimmyM said:
It certainly does! Does a lovely job.
Running at 4 ohms into an AE410 the other night, other amps I've had may've crapped out,
(as this was a 'barn' of a room, big, high roof, a former outdoor courtyard) but this had plenty of 'heft'.
Well I bought the PF500 head, and a PF210 cab form GC yesterday. I tried to demo the PF350 head but the one they had at GC, just fresh in the floor, was DOA. The PF210 cab is great, and as 15 fan I find that I'm not missing anything in depth or warmth. The horn ain't bad either, nuff about that. As for the amp head, Ampeg has this bad boy voiced right! Lot's of nice tones to be found, and sterile it ain't, yet it's capable of some modern tonality. The compressor works, and is nice and transparent, and the bells and whistles one needs are there. Now for some possible issues after doing a modest pop/rock gig yesterday, my rig doesn't make giggable volume until the gain was at noon to one o'clock and the master volume is at least at 2 o'clock, and that volume rush comes up quick, once you get past noon. Before that volume/gain setting , the rig sounds anemic volume and tonewise. I acheived good tone with the tone controls around noon, style switch on center detent, a touch of compression, and I ended up engaging the low boost, and I acheived sufficient volume running the gain around one o'clock and the master a little past 2 o'clock, but the so called fierce power others say this head makes when both volumes are at noon isn't happening with mine. I do notice the thermal indicator light comes on and goes off when the fan kicks in upon powering up, and I'm presuming that's normal operation on power up. Also the clipping indicator light does not work. Yes I tried to see when it would kick in, and it doesn't. Lot's of potential with this head, but I'm going to have to go back to GC to adress the issues with my head. It's been a mixed experience for me so far.
I also like the PF115 more, again because of it's B-15 like tone. But it should be noted these two cabs are close in tone. I think the mids are a touch more defined with the 210, while the mid-lows and lows benefit from the 115. You know, all the stereotypes, just not as exaggerated as most people expect. I still wouldn't mix the cabs, but since Ampeg doesn't seem to mind it, I'm sure that would be fine too...
I'd been looking for a new bass amp for the last few months. The PF350 had exactly the basic feature set I was looking for. I'd been researching this for a while (mainly on TalkBass, thanks!), and went with the Ampeg. Here are some thoughts on some of the most common things I've seen discussed.
First, I play a Fender HWY1 P and I am using the PF350 with an SWR Marcus Miller 410 (4ohm). I am in a moderately loud hard rock band with 2 guitar players with 40-50 watt amps (one 1x12 combo and one with a 2x12 cab) and a fairly hard hitting drummer. Typically we play bars with approximate capacity of 100 people and almost always with PA support for vocals, guitar, and my bass is generally DI'd or mic'd.
The Ampeg arrived the day before last night's gig so there was no opportunity to practice with the band before the show.
Volume concerns
Out of the box, the -15db pad button was engaged. There is no indicator light for this and it's tough to tell when this is pushed in. The amp is, of course, significantly quieter with this engaged. I wonder if those who had issues with the volume of the amp had the button pressed in? I had no issues with volume after disengaging it - it certainly seemed as loud as an SWR headlite and I had no problem keeping up with the band at soundcheck before I went direct. I just checked the settings this morning and both gain and volume are at a little over 10 o'clock. No volume issues. I was using PA support but I confident this would be fine at any the places I would play without any FOH help.
Reliability
All of these reports of early failures had me terrified knowing that this was my only option for the show. I left the amp on throughout the day playing through it at least 3 hours at home and probably leaving it on for a straight 5 hours. No problems at all and it remained completely cool the entire time - both at home and after the show. The fan is also almost inaudible.
DI
I will echo the thoughts of other users. The DI is very hot. As far as I can tell it's post EQ. I had to back off the gain from 12 o'clock to 10 and I probably could have backed it off more. A DI level control would be a welcome addition. As it is, it's usable but not the best.
Tone controls
Despite the limited tone stack, I was able to get a good variety of sounds out of the amp. One thing about this amp is that you shouldn't be afraid to turn any of the knobs up all of the way. I was surprised the tonal jump from having the bass knob at 75% to 100% - it was a dramatic increase.
Overall quality
I was very hesitant choosing this amp due to it's super low price point and country of origin. But the fact is this was the only amp that offered the basic feature set, form factor, and tone that I was looking for. I don't know (and I don't know if I want to know) how Ampeg is selling these amps so cheap.
Final thoughts (or "too long; didn't read")
Very satisfied initially. Sound-wise, features, form factor, and price point are perfect. I'll see what happens with long-term reliability. Even if I do choose something else in the future, I could see keeping the PF350 as an excellent backup amp. But for now I'm definitely happy.
First, I play a Fender HWY1 P and I am using the PF350 with an SWR Marcus Miller 410 (4ohm). I am in a moderately loud hard rock band with 2 guitar players with 40-50 watt amps (one 1x12 combo and one with a 2x12 cab) and a fairly hard hitting drummer. Typically we play bars with approximate capacity of 100 people and almost always with PA support for vocals, guitar, and my bass is generally DI'd or mic'd.
The Ampeg arrived the day before last night's gig so there was no opportunity to practice with the band before the show.
Volume concerns
Out of the box, the -15db pad button was engaged. There is no indicator light for this and it's tough to tell when this is pushed in. The amp is, of course, significantly quieter with this engaged. I wonder if those who had issues with the volume of the amp had the button pressed in? I had no issues with volume after disengaging it - it certainly seemed as loud as an SWR headlite and I had no problem keeping up with the band at soundcheck before I went direct. I just checked the settings this morning and both gain and volume are at a little over 10 o'clock. No volume issues. I was using PA support but I confident this would be fine at any the places I would play without any FOH help.
Reliability
All of these reports of early failures had me terrified knowing that this was my only option for the show. I left the amp on throughout the day playing through it at least 3 hours at home and probably leaving it on for a straight 5 hours. No problems at all and it remained completely cool the entire time - both at home and after the show. The fan is also almost inaudible.
DI
I will echo the thoughts of other users. The DI is very hot. As far as I can tell it's post EQ. I had to back off the gain from 12 o'clock to 10 and I probably could have backed it off more. A DI level control would be a welcome addition. As it is, it's usable but not the best.
Tone controls
Despite the limited tone stack, I was able to get a good variety of sounds out of the amp. One thing about this amp is that you shouldn't be afraid to turn any of the knobs up all of the way. I was surprised the tonal jump from having the bass knob at 75% to 100% - it was a dramatic increase.
Overall quality
I was very hesitant choosing this amp due to it's super low price point and country of origin. But the fact is this was the only amp that offered the basic feature set, form factor, and tone that I was looking for. I don't know (and I don't know if I want to know) how Ampeg is selling these amps so cheap.
Final thoughts (or "too long; didn't read")
Very satisfied initially. Sound-wise, features, form factor, and price point are perfect. I'll see what happens with long-term reliability. Even if I do choose something else in the future, I could see keeping the PF350 as an excellent backup amp. But for now I'm definitely happy.
@thumpbass1, where you only using the 2x10 cab? I dont know how loud your gigs are but in my experience if you are playing with a drummer and a electric guitar a 2x10 in some cases wont cut it. I think most folks boasting about the volume of the pf500 are using 2 15's or a 4x10.
My pf500 with one 15 is not gig worthy with a electric band without pa support. It is fine for acoustic gigs. A 2x10 cab can only get so loud.
My pf500 with one 15 is not gig worthy with a electric band without pa support. It is fine for acoustic gigs. A 2x10 cab can only get so loud.
Trust me the cab more than handled the gig by itself. I have an SVT15E cab on hand if I needed an extension cab at the moment, and I also have an old 4 ohm Peavey Black Widow 2 x 15 I can dig out if need be. It's not a cab issue at all. I did have to push the head a bit to get the volume and tone to open up, ( The pad switch was not engaged, for those who might wonder ) and in fact my competition was only a guitarist with a Line 6 floor unit into the p.a., Roland drums, keys, and vocals and the amp carried with no p.a. support for what can be considered a moderate volume gig. Maybe I'm reading too much into the accolades of others who say the PF500 will push either PF cab when they are run solo pretty hard when the gain and volume are nooned. I do have the clipping light failure issue too, but that's another matter.
I talked to Joshua at the Omaha GC earlier today, their resident bass player, and one of the managers, also a great guy to deal with, and he's willing to do an exchange once they get some new heads in about three or four weeks. These things are back ordered like crazy and the other PF500 head they have is on lay away. I respect them for keeping that for the other customer. Anyways without another head to compare it too, I can't judge if mine is within normal parameters or not. They are letting me use the head until they get new ones in, and I'll be experimenting to see what it does pushing things at 4 ohms. I'll definitely have to see how it does with my old Peavey cab for grins and giggles.
That's funny because I did my last three gigs with a PF-350 and a single PF-115. Loud drummer, guitarist with a Marshall stack and no PA support. Not huge places but decent sized bars. I had to crank the volume and gain fairly high but I didn't have any clipping issues and received complements from the crowd on my tone.
I have only played my PF500 and PF-210 in my basement so far but would so that with the gain and master at 12:00 the volume is moderate at best. Though once you get past noon it starts jumping up pretty quick. So I don't think it is a problem with your head.
As far as the "clipping light failure" (I am assuming your talking about the peak light) with the compression all the way off and my master volume set at 9:00 and me just finger picking the E string I have to take my gain up to 3:00 before the peak indicator starts turning on. So, if your head's light is not coming on at all than yea there must be an issue.
As you or someone else indicated my fault light does stay on for a few seconds as well when I first power it up.
okcrum
in your chest
Yeah, my PF500 covered an outdoor gig w/o reinforcement last nite, with an 8 ohm Warwick ported 2x10, stood up on the short side. For some reason using the mains was not available, even though there was a DI box lying on my side of the stage. The house backline was a BA115, which was woefully undersized for the venue (plaza with a few hundred people). One of the other bands' bass players said the tone and mix balance was great out in the crowd.
I gotta say, I'm thinking of getting another 500.
Thanks for replying about your experience with your PF500. Actually with the gain and volume at noon, my head isn't even producing moderate volume. The master volume finally jumps in at about 1 o'clock and things finally get cooking at 2 o'clock and beyond. At 2.5 to 3 I can then run the gain back to 11 o'clock and have nice, loud enough giggable volume, but the preamp gain seems to love things at noon to 1, and by 4 o'clock on the master V, it get's stupid loud, so the gain and power stage, and how it sweeps on my head is a little bit weird imo, but with out being able to check it against another PF500 head at this time, it's hard to judge the nature of these beasts. As for the peak indicator/clip section the light does come on when I hit the mute button, but there is nothing going on when I crank up the gain stage as far as signalling a hot clipping signal going into the amp, even when I've dimed it for a brief second or too. The compressor threshold indicator does work.
Tonewise, once I get the head cranked up it does what an Ampeg fanboy or girl wants an Ampeg amp to do, so I ain't griping about that. I love the PF210 cab so far. As a 15" fan I'm not missing anything with this being a 2 x 10 cab, and on that part I'm satisfied.
I set my gain at about 2 o'clock and that's the point where it just peaks when I really dig in with a P-bass. I usually use this head with 2x15 cabs - an SWR big bertha and an Ampeg B25B. With the bertha I'm playing with a fairly low-volume group in a basement so 9-10 o'clock is loud in that room. With the B25B I'm playing with a stupidly loud rock band in a rehearsal space and I'm usually running the master around noon but that is incredibly loud (and yes, we're all wearing ear plugs 
).
If you can't get clipping from the gain knob set at 1 or above there might be something up. Either that or you've got a really quiet bass. Or a really light touch. I guess until you can compare with another PF we'll have to sit around and scratch our collective heads.
). If you can't get clipping from the gain knob set at 1 or above there might be something up. Either that or you've got a really quiet bass. Or a really light touch. I guess until you can compare with another PF we'll have to sit around and scratch our collective heads.
I guess with my previous post I was asking. What would you prefer. 2 stacked PF210's or two stacked PF115's? Which would be louder? More low end response? etc.
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